One person was killed, 11 others were injured and more than 100 houses collapsed in an earthquake of magnitude 5.0 that hit southwest China today.
The quake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale struck Sichuan province at 0306 hrs IST with its epicentre near the city of Suining, Xinhua news agency quoted Sichuan earthquake authority as saying.
Suining, a city with a population of 3.8 million, is 140 kilometres east to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan.
China's national seismological network said the epicentre of the quake was between Suining and Tongnan County of Chongqing Municipality, with a depth of about 10 kilometres.
More than 30 local seismologists and officials have reached the quake-hit area to carry out further investigation.
An 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan in May 2008, leaving nearly 87,000 people dead or missing and more than five million others homeless.
Chinese state media said last week that authorities would complete more than 90 per cent of reconstruction in quake-devastated Sichuan province this year.